The Comfort of Silence
by AliaofTwoWorlds
Summary: Hitsugaya and Matsumoto know that a captain needs their lieutenant as much as the lieutenant needs their captain. They are there for each other in moments of weakness. Short story on the relationship between Hitsugaya and Matsumoto, no romance, friendship


**Well, this is my first story. Hope it's not too bad. This actually takes place in the middle of the whole thing I'm writing, but it's short and I've had this idea for a while so I wanted to write it now instead of doing all the stuff where I introduce Alia (my OC) first. This is mostly Matsumoto- and Hitsugaya- centric, there are only small parts involving Alia, so you really don't need to know anything about her to read it. This is NOT a romance. It's about the relationship between the tenth division captain and lieutenant, and how they express their emotions to each other. Hope you like it.**

The sound of a door slamming echoed through the evening air, piercing the silence like a scream. The small captain leaned against the closed door for a moment, trying in vain to compose himself. His arms and legs trembled slightly, and he clenched his fists to stop the shaking.

After a minute, he pushed himself roughly off the door to the fourth division and started forward. He walked stiffly, trying not to betray the violent emotions that were swirling around in his head, preventing him from focusing. He didn't pay any attention to where he was headed; subconsciously, he tread the path to the cliff on the edge of the modified Guardian training grounds.

Alia and Ukitake watched sadly from a reasonable distance away. Ukitake didn't start forward, though he badly wanted to. He looked to Alia, expecting her to go rushing after Hitsugaya to comfort him; her pure presence was enough to calm anyone. But she didn't move.

"Aren't you going to go…" Ukitake started.

"No," Alia said simply. She stared after the young captain, obviously in pain from watching him suffer like this, but still she did not make a move in his direction. After a strained minute, during which Hitsugaya slowly made his way farther from them, she continued. "He is struggling with his feelings about two people right now. The last thing he needs after an argument with one of them…" she sighed and shifted slightly, "is to be around the other one."

Ukitake sighed. She was right, of course. But the thought of leaving the young captain to deal with this on his own made Ukitake's heart clench painfully.

As if reading his thoughts, Alia spoke again. "Don't worry. What he needs right now is a neutral party to talk to, one he can trust with even his emotions. And I have a feeling just that is coming," she said with a small smile.

Ukitake looked sideways at her, confused, until she gestured to their left, away from Hitsugaya. Ukitake understood immediately when he saw a tall, distinctive figure emerge from the cover of the woods near them. The woman followed Hitsugaya at a considerate distance, allowing him room to stumble along without noticing her.

Ukitake sighed for both their sakes, but his heart lifted at the knowledge that the tenth division captain and lieutenant had one of the most trusting relationships in the entire Gotei 13. "He's in good hands," Ukitake whispered to himself.

"Yes, he is," said Alia beside him, and in a graceful swish, she disappeared from his side.

Rangiku Matsumoto followed her captain, concern etched into her face and coursing through her body. She had watched him go off into the fourth division about an hour earlier, ridden with guilt, to visit two tenth division members that had been nearly killed by Aizen in a recent incident.

It had started as a normal sighting of a particularly large Hollow just outside the residential part of Western Rukongai. Her captain, still recovering from an injury, had not been at full power during the battle. He had irritated his recently broken ribs while fighting and had been unable to take down the six arrancar that had appeared very suddenly. Other division members arrived to help before he had almost collapsed on the battlefield. Rangiku had tried to drag him away at the last minute, but shortly afterward, Aizen had appeared, cutting through two of the division members to reach the captain and lieutenant. Rangiku had managed to escape, taking a nearly-unconscious Hitsugaya with her, and Aizen had disappeared; but the two division members, one of which was a fairly young and new recruit, had nearly died.

Of course, it was completely absurd to think that even an uninjured captain could have taken down six arrancar unassisted, even if he had been at full strength, but that did not stop Hitsugaya from blaming himself for their injuries. So Matsumoto had been forced to stay silent—he refused to show his emotions in front of the other division members, even Matsumoto, because he thought he needed to be strong all the time—as he worried over them, unable to focus and yet refusing to talk to anyone.

When he had entered the fourth division an hour ago, she had considered following after him, planning to show up in the room where the injured lay recovering, hoping to make her captain realize that everyone was worried about them, yet none of them blamed him. But that had changed when someone else had shown up.

Hinamori entered the fourth division about fifteen minutes after Hitsugaya did, obviously following him. Matsumoto had hoped that perhaps she would help end his self-torture, but her hopes hadn't been high.

The two had been somewhat less friendly ever since Aizen's betrayal. Hinamori's obsession with her former captain and constant insistence that he was innocent separated her from everyone, but from Hitsugaya most of all. The two had been childhood friends, Hitsugaya perhaps even had some feelings for her. But now she seemed to have chosen Aizen over him, and it affected him. Matsumoto couldn't help but feel angry at the girl whenever her captain walked away from a discussion with Hinamori, looking sad and betrayed.

And her captain had been around Alia a lot lately—much to Hinamori's dislike. Alia was an incredible person, a great friend to Hitsugaya. And perhaps something more. Matsumoto was glad that the two talked so much—it was nice to see that he may be falling for someone so trustworthy. Unlike Hinamori. The girl was becoming jealous and threw sulky looks at Alia when they passed each other. Matsumoto had a feeling that she had been trying to persuade Hitsugaya to stay away from Alia, which had clearly increased tensions between him and Hinamori.

So when Matsumoto crept closer to the fourth division and heard muffled, desperate yelling, though it made her heart sink, she wasn't surprised. From what she could hear, muffled by the walls, it sounded like her captain was yelling at Hinamori. Though the argument barely reached Matsumoto, she could her the exasperated and melancholy tone to her captain's familiar voice. She hated to hear him sound so… defeated.

Then came Hinamori's angry screeching. Though louder, it was still fairly unintelligible, but Matsumoto caught one word—_Aizen. _

So it was as she suspected—they were arguing about Aizen. Likely, Hinamori had come into the room to find Hitsugaya staring down at the still forms of two of his division members, being crushed by guilt, and had said exactly the wrong thing.

She had most likely tried to defend Aizen's actions, or perhaps she had insisted that he hadn't really done it—maybe Gin forced him to. Or maybe it was his evil twin. Or maybe those two were really spies from Hueco Mundo and Aizen had stopped them.

Whatever stupid, naïve excuse she had come up with, it obviously pushed Hitsugaya past the breaking point. But of course, with the complex he had for self-sacrifice and his confusing, lingering feelings about Hinamori, he hadn't simply shouted her down, called her a fool, reprimanded her… no, he was far too nice for that. He wanted to spare the girl's feelings, so he had just yelled enough to get her to leave him alone, breaking himself down even more in the process.

Now, he stumbled away, tormented and alone. Matsumoto couldn't stand it anymore. He couldn't keep doing this to himself. So she followed him. She kept far enough away that he wouldn't know she was there. She didn't want to confront him until he had at least reached a destination and stopped.

After a little while, she realized where they were headed. It wasn't surprising. The training grounds that Alia had modified to be perfect for their fights were beautiful when not in use. She had seen her captain and Alia sitting atop the cliff at the edge of the training area, looking down at the trees and the lake, sitting in the soft grass in the shade of the grand willow tree that towered above them.

In a little under ten minutes, that tree loomed toward them, and she saw her captain plop down underneath it and bury his face in his hands. She didn't want to intrude on this moment: he surely didn't want anyone to see him like this. So she waited until he raised his head and shifted, draping one arm dejectedly over his knees and staring down into the lake.

She approached him silently. He obviously noticed her presence—his reiatsu changed slightly. This scared her somewhat. He usually kept his reiatsu so well controlled that she could barely sense it even when she was standing right next to him. Now it seemed that he had lost either the will or the ability to control it completely, letting it betray his conflicting emotions.

She sat down next to him and gazed down into the lake. It reflected the light of a half-moon and a few stars in its smooth surface. It really was beautiful. Beside her, Hitsugaya took a shaky breath, slowly drawing in air to disguise the fact that he was trembling.

Matsumoto reached out and laid an arm across his shoulders. He tensed slightly and continued to stare at the lake, eyes now unfocused. Matsumoto also looked down at the lake, but she was focusing on her captain. He was still tense, and he was holding his breath. She wondered if he even noticed. Just as she thought that, he exhaled and relaxed a little under her arm.

Matsumoto pulled her captain close to her, so that he was leaning against her side, and she wrapped one arm around his shoulders, raising the other hand to stroke his hair gently. Normally, she knew, he would never let her do this; for one thing, it made him appear much more childish and weak to others, but mostly, she knew that he knew she usually did it just to annoy him. But despite their frequent arguments and how they may appear to everyone else, they knew and understood each other better than any other captain-lieutenant team in the Gotei 13. Matsumoto knew when it was okay for her to make fun of her captain endlessly, and when he really needed her to just bring him a cup of tea; he knew when he could yell at her for staying out all night drinking with Kyouraku instead of doing her paperwork, and when she was in brooding mood and just needed to be left alone. And they both knew that he needed her just as much as she needed him.

When they were completely alone together, at one of those moments when the mood was really serious and one truly needed the other; that was the only time either of them would reveal their true emotions. Hitsugaya had been the only one ever to see Matsumoto cry about Gin. And now, Matsumoto was the only one who Hitsugaya felt he could show his real feelings to, who wouldn't see him as a child because he had a moment of weakness.

They sat there for at least an hour, never saying a word, Hitsugaya leaning against Matsumoto and she stroking his hair gently. When the sun had finally sunken completely behind the horizon and darkness cloaked the Seireitei, Matsumoto leaned her head closer to Histugaya's and whispered, "Captain…"

There was no response. Matsumoto looked down in mild surprise to find that he had fallen asleep, resting against her. A smile came to her as she looked down on him; he looked more peaceful than she had seen him in days. Mindful that he was still injured and careful not to wake him, she put her hands under his knees and shoulders and picked him up. Walking slowly, taking the longer route so as to avoid contact with anyone who might still be out late, she carried her sleeping captain back to the tenth division. When she got to Hitsugaya's quarters, she nudged the door open with her foot and backed inside.

Her captain's room reflected his personality, neat and ordered perfectly. Matsumoto had been in here a few times before, mostly to deliver small messages to her captain, and one memorable time when he was sick. But one thing she had never noticed before was the very top shelf of a case of books against the wall, where sat a small, stuffed dragon. Matsumoto had made this for her captain on a whim about a year ago, and left it on his desk before work one morning. It had disappeared before she even got back to the office that day, and she never knew what happened to it—she smiled to herself knowing that he had accorded it this place of honor.

Matsumoto laid her captain down gently on his bed, pulled the sheet over his small body, and left the room quietly, throwing one last glance back at him as she closed the door. Outside, she turned to leave, and spotted a lone figure leaning against a tree not far away. She headed toward it with a smile, knowing exactly who it was. As she and Alia passed each other, Alia put her hand on Matsumoto's shoulder and said quietly, "thank you." With a small nod, Matsumoto made her way back to her own room, and silently, Alia turned and disappeared into the still night.

**So, not my best work ever, but I always thought this was a really cute idea. Please review, even if you totally hated it. It's nice to know someone read it, even if you think it completely sucks. Oh, and if you're wondering, the Guardians are the race (well, not really, but it takes forever to explain so "race" works best for these purposes) that Alia belongs to.**


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